


silently tasting your whispers

by NatMatryoshka



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Late Night Conversations, Pre-game Fragile, Pre-game Higgs, Prompt Fic, slight mention of past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23298409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatMatryoshka/pseuds/NatMatryoshka
Summary: Their fingers touch for a brief moment, until he takes her hand - an urge he can't control.But she doesn't hold back.
Relationships: Fragile/Higgs Monaghan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	silently tasting your whispers

"It's a stupid world, you know. A fucking stupid and complicated world."

There aren't many places one can appreciate the night while drinking something, but those old wooden boxes on the back of the warehouse will do.

_Clic._

Higgs opens one of the cans, and that sounds makes the air tremble for a moment. The beer tastes good, like fresh wheat and clean air (isn't it strange how timefall can ruin things yet make them grow at the same time?). But something else lingers on his tongue, a taste difficult to recognize: bittersweet, melancholic yet hopeful. Something linked to an old memory he can't recall. Perhaps because his life's changing for the better, and he's learning to leave the past behind? He can’t tell.

It's inebriant. Almost tastes like freedom.

He opens the second can and hands it to Fragile. The girl accepts the beer with a smile, taking the first sip after a long breath.

"Maybe. But we can still change it."

Higgs glances at her eyes, at the delicate curve of her lips. She's barely aware of her power - not the DOOMS, this other one. Her unshakable faith in everything good their world has to offer. Since the first time they met, that hope has drawn him to her. How can she always be so focused on her goal, even when life crumbles around her and she's too tired to collect the pieces once more?

"Mmh." She can also leave him speechless. _Another power she has no knowledge of._ "How can you be so sure? People are people, after all. One day we build something, the day after it's all in ruins. It's a stupid world, I told you. Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth our efforts."

Fragile sighs. The sky above them is strangely clearer, spots of chiral clouds filling distant, dark corners. She marvels at the stars: he lifts his head too, leaving his mind wander in that comforting darkness. When he was younger, darkness scared him. His father always told him stories about monsters and dangers hiding in it, about cruel people and an endless night they had to flee from. _We need to hide, Higgs. You have to trust me. You must do what I tell you._

But he was curious, like every child his age: he simply wanted more than four walls and a wretched camp bed. So, he disobeyed. And when he ventured outside of their bunker for the first time, the first time he smelled the air of the night, his fears disappeared in a moment. The night sky was beautiful. Almost leaving him breathless, too vast and incredible to be described. Fear had no place in it.

Lately his _uncledaddy_ would have beaten the hell out of him, but he never regretted that adventure. He had never been so excited in his whole life.

"You're right, it's a stupid world. But if only a single person could do their part and keep believing, we can too."

Fragile takes another sip. She puts the can down, then turns her head towards him.

Their fingers touch for a brief moment, until he takes her hand - an urge he can't control. But she doesn't hold back.

Her hand feels soft, gentle in his. _How can she be so damn beautiful_ , Higgs thinks, surprising himself with that thought.

"You're an optimist, Fragile. The only one left, probably."

"That's why you like me so much."

 _Touché._ His past self would have probably pulled back, desperately searching for a word to save himself from another embarassing moment. But this Higgs is a different person now. He caresses her cheek, tracing small circles on her skin. _You've never been so close to a girl before_ , a tiny voice inside his head reminds him. _You don't know how to behave_. He doesn't mind. They live in a stupid and complicated world, yeah, where every social habit has been replaced with a simpler, paler version of it, but deep down he knows too well what to do. And her lips seem so soft - they almost call him.

So Higgs kisses her.

It's a soft kiss at first, so shy and gentle he can't even recognize himself in it, but after a while - when Fragile returns it with an energy that makes him almost wince - it becomes more passionate, more needing.

Desperate. She tastes like alchool and excitement, her lips are cold and wet and he could kiss them forever. Fragile runs a hand through his hair, slowing down only when she feels his fingers softly touch her nape. She doesn't hesitate, not anymore.

Her mouth, her tongue, are full of a silent plea, a prayer begging him not stop, not to leave. She's fierce, and kind, and sad, there's a hint of sadness in her that never goes away, even whenever he succeeds in making her laugh... maybe because, after all, they share the same melancholy. The feeling he gets when he looks at one of the rare sunsets their world still has to give, wondering if there will ever be a new one. Nostalgia. A desire for beauty he can't understand.

She breaks the kiss a minute - or maybe a year - after and looks at him. Her eyes shine with all the unspoken words she’d love to tell him but keeps hidden away, thousand tiny stars gleaming at the same time. She's close, always too close. It's almost as he can taste her whispers.

 _Yeah, that's why I like you so much,_ he nods to himself, maybe only in his mind. He doesn't know. The only thing he knows for sure is that he never drank a better beer before.

Suddenly, he starts laughing and she follows him. They’re probably both too drunk and pleased to handle their emotions, Higgs thinks - or perhaps that night came just when they needed it the most. When that laughter ends, they look at each other, both dizzy and still too excited to get back in and go on with their lives. She places another kiss on his lips.

Higgs lays his head on her lap and looks at the stars above him. His mouth still tastes like alcohol. Like Fragile.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I'm under lockdown, so I got plenty of time to write about my new osession, aka these two.  
> Thanks to my beautiful other part of my soul, **Ailisea** , who beta-read this story and make my non-native English more pleasant to read. And to you! Hope you enjoy this mini-fic!


End file.
